SRU:Nerima Chronicles
by metroanime
Summary: Akane visits the Spells R Us shop and has an educational experience.


Spells R Us: Japanese Chronicles 1: Candy Candy by Gregg   
  
Kasumi noticed the cat trying to sneak in and intercepted it. "And where do you   
think you're going, Mister Cat?"   
  
"Meowmeowmewmeow. MEOW!"   
  
"Oh my, you certainly are a talkative little kitty."   
  
The cat gritted her teeth and let her ears flatten. How was she going to tell   
anyone about this? How could she turn back without some help? She tried again,   
yowling and spitting.   
  
An anguished yelp could be heard from the stairway.   
  
"I'm sorry, but we can't take any cats in here. Ranma's afraid of them."   
  
The cat ducked around Kasumi, fleeing into the house. The kitchen hot water   
tap should do it! She leapt onto the counter, began turning the knob and was   
rewarded with a jet of hot water. Yes!   
  
"Kasumi, what are you?" Nabiki watched the cat twist the hot water knob, then   
jump under the faucet. The resulting wet cat howled. "Well, what did you expect?   
Hmmm. You DID expect something, didn't you?"   
  
The cat leapt up to the cupboard, looking thoroughly bedraggled and nodded.   
  
"Nabiki, oh there it is." Kasumi started to remove the cat only to be stopped by   
Nabiki raising a hand to bar her way.   
  
"Hang on, sis." Nabiki sighed and looked at the cat. A little black cat with a   
stubby tail, unremarkable as far as she could tell. "Do I know you?"   
  
The cat nodded.   
  
"You're under a curse that turned you into a cat?"   
  
Another nod. The cat was now staring at Nabiki with tears welling up in her   
eyes.   
  
"Oh my."   
  
"Do I know you from school?" The cat shook her head. "Do I know you personally?"   
The cat nodded. "Are we related?" Another nod. "Well, Daddy, however did you get   
yourself into this mess?"   
  
The cat howled.   
  
"Not Daddy?" Nabiki blinked. "Well, who the heck are you, then?"   
  
"Meow!"   
  
"Kasumi, do we have any other relatives?"   
  
"Not that I know of," Kasumi began uncertainly.   
  
"Well, this cat insists." Nabiki thought for a few moments. "Playing twenty   
questions like this is not an efficient use of time. We need some means of   
communication a cat can manipulate. That lets my computer out, I don't think the   
keypad fits your paws."   
  
"Meow?"   
  
"Hmmm? Oh, sorry. It's a puzzle, and I simply can't let go of puzzles." Nabiki   
pondered a few moments more. "Do you speak English?"   
  
"Meow?" The cat looked rather puzzled but nodded.   
  
"Good." Nabiki nodded and went to get a stack of notecards from the cupboard.   
  
"Why English, Nabiki?" Kasumi looked curiously on as Nabiki quickly marked each   
of the cards with a letter.   
  
"Because English only has twenty-six letters. As opposed to doing up a card for   
the hiragana, katakana, and the common kanji. It's more efficient even if that   
language is quite a bit less elegant than Japanese."   
  
In a trice, the cat was set in the middle of a ring of cards, each marked with a   
romaji letter.   
  
"Still not the best system," Nabiki said with a frown, "but the best I could   
come up with on short notice."   
  
"A-k-a-n-e-t-e-n-d-o." Kasumi read each letter off as the cat turned and batted   
it with a paw.   
  
"Akane? Akane Tendo? Do we have a relative named Akane Tendo?" Nabiki was   
rewarded with the sight of a cat facefaulting.   
  
"AAAAAAAAaaaaaaaa!" Ranma walked in, saw the creature in the room, and fled.   
  
"Oh good grief." Nabiki covered her face. "You WOULD be the one thing my fiance   
is absolutely phobic about."   
  
"MEOW?!" The cat's jaw was hanging open.   
  
"You knew me and Kasumi, but didn't know Ranma? Yes, he's my fiance. Has been   
for six months now. He doesn't look like much, I'll admit, but he's got his good   
points."   
  
The cat face faulted again, then started whapping cards as soon as she   
recovered.   
  
"Curse?" Nabiki blinked. "Yes, he's got a curse. Turns into a girl."   
  
The cat continued to whap at cards.   
  
"Oh. 'fatherisapanda' So, your father is named Panda?" Kasumi was rewarded by   
the cat covering her head with her paws. "Oh."   
  
"Yes. Ranma's father turns into a panda." Nabiki glanced at the cat, still   
trying to come up with a faster method of communication. "So what kind of   
relation are you?"   
  
"Sister?!" Kasumi and Nabiki exclaimed in unison as the cat finished batting at   
cards.   
  
"You mean that Father...oh my!"   
  
"Six months ago this would have been ludicrous. It's quite interesting at how   
speaking to a cat that claims to be my sister has become almost the sort of   
thing one would expect."   
  
The cat continued to bat away at cards for a few moments.   
  
"Cursed food turned you into a cat?" Nabiki blinked. "Nobody remembers you?   
Hmmm. Sounds high level."   
  
"Meow?"   
  
"Of course I know something about curses," Nabiki chided the cat. "I have a   
fiancee who changes genders when splashed with water. What kind of idiot   
WOULDN'T research magic in general and curses in particular when you're engaged   
to evidence for both?"   
  
The cat blinked a couple of times and looked sheepish.   
  
"Cursed food, eh? And a mass forgetfulness spell or else some localized reality   
alteration focussing on your existence?" Nabiki had a thought. "Was it at the   
Nekohanten?"   
  
The cat shook her head.   
  
"Well, I've got to think about this. Try to stay out of sight and tomorrow we   
can get a start on whatever it is."   
  
"Na-Nabiki?"   
  
Akane scampered under the table only to nearly lose control at seeing Ranma come   
nervously into the room. Then Nabiki swept him in for a brief kiss that   
apparently took both of their minds away from felines of any stripe.   
  
"Urrrrrr," came a growl from under the table when the shock wore off.   
  
"Ranma, could you please go upstairs for a bit, I have to speak with you later."   
  
Ranma looked into her eyes, and whatever he saw there brought a tender smile to   
his lips. "You'll tell me what's going on later?"   
  
"Of course, Ranchan. 'No secrets from EITHER of us.'" Nabiki let out a sigh as   
she watched the view of Ranma walking up the stairs, then turned a more   
businesslike expression towards the table. "All right, you. Why were you   
growling at Ranma? You're not another childhood friend turned rival or   
friend-turned-rival-turned fiancee, are you?"   
  
Akane stuck her head out, ears flat as she looked towards where Ranma had walked   
off. The baka had never done any of that with HER.   
  
"Oh, I'd better get busy with supper." Kasumi made an excuse to leave the   
weirdness and retreat to her sanctuary.   
  
"Excuse me, Akane, but I want to spend some quality time with MY fiance and if   
you're going to get cured it will be under the condition that you leave all   
vengeance against MY iinazuke behind you. Do you understand?"   
  
Akane blinked, then returned to the cards, batting away quickly.   
  
"Whoa. Slow down. Geez, I'd almost think you were doing a Chestnut Fist. 'How   
come you're engaged to Ranma.' Well, this is interesting. You know about Ranma,   
his dad, me and Kasumi. You seem to be rather..." Nabiki stopped and blanched.   
"Not an illegitimate half-sister? A real sister? One that was engaged to Ranma?"   
  
The cat nodded to each question.   
  
Nabiki looked sick. "Kitty, I've never had any sisters besides Kasumi. Ranma   
showed up one day, to be engaged to one of the Tendos. Kasumi and me considered   
the situation and I was slightly less revolted by his being a girl half the   
time. I'm glad it happened though, as I've been able to get him to stop being a   
jerk and once you get past all the insecurities and overcompensation, he can be   
really sweet."   
  
The cat made a hacking noise.   
  
"It's true! And in return he's gotten me to open up and be more considerate of   
others. It's not an ideal relationship but we've come to care for each other   
very much, and neither of us wants anything to happen to that." Nabiki thought   
for a moment. "Okay, now what kind of food and where?"   
  
The cat began tapping away.   
  
"Candy. From a store that specializes in curses? Let me guess, you went in while   
looking for a cure for Ranma's curse and got a curse yourself instead?"   
  
"Meeowww!" The cat nodded.   
  
"Well we can check with them tomorrow for a cure for your curse." Nabiki gave   
the cat a sad look. "You're sure about the part that you're really my sister and   
you're really Ranma's fiancee?"   
  
"MEOW!"   
  
"And I suppose he does all those sweet things for you, and nuzzles you behind   
the ear telling you what a sweet and wonderful creature you are?"   
  
The cat facefaulted again then started angrily hissing and meowing and was   
intent on running up the stairs and having a chat with that two-timer. Four   
timer. Whatever.   
  
Nabiki intercepted the cat. "I don't think so. I'm really not sure how much of   
your story I believe..."   
  
The cat meowed as if indignant.   
  
"...but it's the duty of a martial artist to help those in need." Nabiki   
straightened. "Even if I'm NOT that good as a martial artist, I AM Heir to the   
Tendo School."   
  
"Meow?!"   
  
"Sorry, cat. Look, I've got to get working on the next installment of my manga,   
and the dojo really needs the money, you know. ESPECIALLY after that little spat   
with the Black Rose last week."   
  
"Meow?" Akane didn't remember Kodachi attacking her last week. Waitaminute.   
Working on the next installment of her manga?   
  
"You haven't read, 'The Sword & The Rose?' It's doing fairly well in the   
dojinshi circles. I may even be attracting the attention of one of the major   
publishers if rumor can be believed. It's an action-romance set in the period   
just before the Disarmament with an amnesiac ronin and this girl whom he rescues   
from brigands." Nabiki grinned and winked. "My art style needs work but quite a   
few people like the story. We can hope one of the big publishers gets   
interested, ne?"   
  
Akane blinked and settled back under the table. This was too weird.   
  
-------   
  
Morning came and a cat hidden under the house watched as Ranma fell into the   
pond with a splash.   
  
As a Nabiki who had never had a younger sister to be the Heir popped out briefly   
to assist her fiance, only to get dunked herself.   
  
As the two grinning teenagers proceeded to reduce a panda nearly to the status   
of throw rug.   
  
"Ranma, I've got a really tricky job I've got to work on today, so I'm going to   
have to back out of checking out that 'Rivalsan Dojo' place."   
  
"More work with your comic? I'm tellin' ya. More action sequences, that'll   
sell."   
  
"Now now, Ranma, I don't tell you how to do Anything Goes (much) and you don't   
advise me in what will sell. Besides, with Kodachi continually attacking for me   
being a 'wicked sorceress' who's 'cursed her Ranma sama to turn into a girl' and   
used 'diabolic means to ensnare his heart', I'd kinda like to get away from   
fight sequences for awhile."   
  
Akane lost sight of the two as they walked into the house. From her vantage   
though, she could clearly hear them as they moved overhead. She avoided Sasuke   
and continued to listen.   
  
"It's not something you need help with, is it?"   
  
"Nah. This is definitely something you can't help with. It involves a cat."   
  
"O-Oh."   
  
"Don't sweat it, Ranma. I plan on getting ahold of Shampoo or maybe her Great   
Grandmother. Besides, if this goes bad you can ride to the rescue at the last   
minute, per usual."   
  
Akane tried to identify the sounds that followed. What? They couldn't be! They   
wouldn't! It sounded like some heavy liplock going on!   
  
"Well, since you two are getting along so well, maybe I should..." Akane heard   
her father's voice trail off. "Well, yes, a martial artist has to exercise   
patience. Heh heh."   
  
"Take care, Nabiki-chan. Suki da."   
  
"Same here, Ranma-kun."   
  
Akane facefaulted, which had the effect of causing a small amount of dirt going   
up her nose and a resultant sneeze. Inside her currently feline brain, she was   
reeling.   
  
She had to wait for Nabiki, so she had plenty of time to think about it. How   
could this happen? Nabiki was only interested in profit, she'd always been   
badgering Ranma, selling him off, ready with a quick insult or to make his life   
miserable. And it had been Nabiki who had first nominated Akane as the one to   
marry Ranma after the curse had been demonstrated.   
  
Akane wasn't that used to being devious, and wasn't the sort to enjoy figuring   
out puzzles. She labored at understanding the scene she'd just observed now.   
  
Nabiki's overwhelming mania for quick profit and ruthlessness had only   
manifested AFTER Ranma had arrived. Nabiki had been interested in boys as   
something other than a source of income before Ranma's arrival. Before Ranma's   
arrival, she'd mainly taken bets and sold her skills at photography. Before, she   
had read a lot of manga and had shown interest in a few other subjects.   
  
Nabiki had briefly toyed with the idea of actually writing manga once, but had   
given it up after it became obvious that it would be an uphill battle. Had her   
continued training in the martial arts given her enough discipline that she had   
pursued it?   
  
Akane growled softly as she saw Ranma and Nabiki exit the house together,   
holding hands and apparently not even aware of it!   
  
Akane watched as Ranma ran off, Nabiki watching him from the gate with a wistful   
expression on her face. Akane tried to fit this Nabiki in with the one she had   
come to know over the past few months.   
  
Something clicked that Akane had only noticed briefly but on a few occasions   
within the household. Times when the mask slipped just a little. Nabiki goading   
Ranma towards one of the other girls by making it a challenge or point of pride,   
something Ranma couldn't possibly allow to go without giving his best effort.   
  
Times when things seemed to smooth out in the Akane-Ranma running battle, only   
to have Nabiki throw a little chaos into the mix. And sometimes, it had turned   
out that even when it wasn't directly Nabiki, the interruption had come at   
Nabiki's direction.   
  
Feline eyes widened and she let out an involuntary meow. Only someone who knew   
Nabiki as well as a sister would have noticed the shadow of an expression   
passing over the face of the "heartless mercenary" Nabiki had become. Just seen   
a few times here and there when the mask had slipped. Akane had noticed but not   
really paid attention at that time. They were expressions of sadness and   
jealousy.   
  
It couldn't be. Could it?   
  
"Oh hello, Ryouga."   
  
Akane looked around but couldn't see Ryouga. But there was P-chan! Akane   
wondered if P-chan was Nabiki's pet now, she seemed to have everything else of   
hers.   
  
"Bweee?"   
  
"Ryouga, I could use your help today."   
  
"Buqiii!"   
  
"Tut tut, Ryouga-kun. You might be interested in this one. Someone you don't   
know was cursed by some store's product to turn into a little black cat."   
P-chan began growling. Akane was amazed at how well trained P-chan was. It was   
almost as if he was having a conversation with Nabiki.   
  
"If you're blaming Ranma for this, don't bother. He doesn't know about it. Now,   
I will be going there to help this unfortunate girl get uncursed. The idea being   
is that if this store sells the curses, the cures are also likely to be   
available, though I'd expect the cures to be at a significant markup."   
  
"Buqiii."   
  
"Because I would expect curses to be easier than cures, also because the demand   
for a cure would be rather more than that of a curse. Supply and demand and   
relative value."   
  
"Squee."   
  
"And if they can cure one kind of curse, maybe they can cure other curses."   
P-chan had turned away from Nabiki and had closed his eyes. Now he was giving   
Nabiki his full attention. If Akane didn't know better, she could have sworn   
that P-chan's eyes were glimmering with tears.   
  
"Thought that would get your attention." There were deserts less dry than   
Nabiki's tone. "In any case, Ryouga, sit your butt down. I'll get some hot   
water, and the nice kitty cat can take us to that store."   
  
"Mrow?" Akane watched Nabiki enter the house, returning a moment later with a   
kettle and a thermos.   
  
"I got two of those 'instant hot water dispensers' a couple of months ago. The   
one in the living room has a coin slot attatched. That's Mister Saotome's.   
There's another one I keep for emergencies." Nabiki assumed the cat was asking   
about the quick availability of hot water. Nabiki smirked at the cat and added   
that there were times when she really wanted Ranma to be in his male form.   
  
Akane grumbled a little at the suggestive tone. She got it, she GOT it already.   
  
Nabiki poured water down onto P-chan, eliciting a momentary hiss from Akane.   
P-chan didn't need...a bath?!   
  
A moment later, Ryouga was attacked by a thoroughly ticked off housecat.   
  
-------------------------------   
  
"I figure it's the same thing with Ranma and you. You don't know what you did,   
but you did something to her. Missed an appointment or something, and she swore   
vengeance. Etcetera, etcetera." Nabiki smirked. This was just too amusing to   
have Ryouga hit with the same sort of grudge that the lost boy had against   
Ranma.   
  
"We're here," Ryouga noted, tugging a little against the tether that Nabiki had   
insisted on tying to his belt.   
  
Akane blinked. The Nekohanten?   
  
"This won't take long." Nabiki winked at the cat. Nabiki entered the cafe,   
exiting a moment later with Shampoo.   
  
"Of course Shampoo ready to assist sister Amazon with problem. Maybe find cure   
for own curse?"   
  
Akane twitched at the reference to a "sister amazon." The sooner she got back to   
normal and left this insanity behind, the better.   
  
After a few moments, her curiosity got the better of her. It took a little trial   
and error but finally Nabiki got the idea.   
  
"Shampoo was my 'rival' up until last month. This old rival of Ranma's showed   
up, promising to make him suffer for something that his father apparently did."   
  
"Meow," said Akane, nodding. That would have been Ukyou.   
  
"Anyway, this guy was going to kill Ranma, especially when he found out that I   
was his fiancee and that we were getting along." Nabiki seemed to flush slightly   
and Akane wondered exactly what the two had been doing when Ukyou had found   
them. "So the usual challenge and fight like with Ryouga here, except this guy   
is REALLY angry."   
  
"What, you mean I'm not? I've been to Hell due to Ranma, and I won't rest until   
he's paid for it!"   
  
"During the fight I see this load of explosive tempura flakes heading my way. I   
get out of the way, evasion is a specialty of the Tendo School, but then Shampoo   
here gets tagged. So, private grudge match or not, me and Shampoo get involved   
in the fight. Ranma goes into just pure rage when I get attacked, but then has   
to sit on the sidelines when me and Shampoo go to town on Mr Challenger."   
  
"Meow?" They didn't know Ukyou was a girl? And what did this have to do with   
being a sister Amazon?   
  
"Well, I read a lot. Research stuff online, too. So, I see Elder Cologne in   
attendence. Me and Shampoo here have just fought together against a common   
enemy. So in front of the Elder, I place a wound I got from a flying spatula on   
a similar one from Shampoo. Then I take some sweat from Shampoo and taste it."   
  
A cat made a disagreeable noise. Still, Akane was listening as she might be able   
to use this herself.   
  
"At this point, Cologne's eyes are as big as saucers. You should'a seen it. Then   
I petition Cologne to become Shampoo's blood sister as we have shared blood and   
salt in the defeat of a common enemy."   
  
"Shampoo not know about rules. Never have blood-sister. Linlin and Ranran close,   
but not go through this."   
  
"Well, when I found out about the marriage laws and the bit about outsider   
women, I knew there had to be loopholes. They couldn't possibly go about   
indiscriminately killing and marrying outsiders. This was one, and when I saw my   
chance I took it. Cologne HAD to accept the petition, and give me three tasks   
which I had to complete. They couldn't be flat out impossible or kill me   
directly or indirectly, though. The Trial Of War, The Trial Of Skill, and The   
Trial Of The Heart.   
  
"The first one was to defeat Shampoo. I had to make it other than a physical   
combat, but I managed to get through the bakeoff with some help from Kasumi. The   
Trial Of Skill was more difficult. The Breaking Point training. I think I've   
still got bruises. I just don't heal as fast as Ryouga.   
  
"The Trial Of The Heart is always the most difficult. Cologne used some   
nightmare incense, trapped me in a dream where I was a minor supporting   
character watching..."   
  
Nabiki's face turned pale and she shot a glance towards the cat. "Oh no."   
  
Shampoo gave a worried glance to her sister. "Nabiki win Trial. Make ultimate   
sacrifice in dream. Give up on own life, own happiness, for the better of tribe.   
Shampoo have to stay over for a few nights until nightmares stop. Was fun. Was   
also good get away from stupid Mousse."   
  
Akane led the small group through a series of streets, finally arriving at the   
small alleyway. Her thoughts were whirling. How could she make use of this new   
knowledge herself?   
  
"Lemon Street, Ecchi Way, Kimyo Plaza?" Nabiki's eyes narrowed. "I don't   
remember these in Nerima."   
  
"Meow!" Akane stopped at the door to a small store. "Meow! Meow!"   
  
"Spells R Us?" Nabiki frowned. "Hmmm. Nothing to do but give it a try, I   
suppose."   
  
"NABIKI TENDO! PREPARE TO DIE!"   
  
Akane-neko stared, wide eyed and ears flattened, at the figure that had just   
leapt down into the alley.   
  
"For what you and that bimbo have done to me," Ukyou drew her spatula, "death!"   
  
"Yeah, right, Kuonji." Nabiki felt a little better flanked by Ryouga and   
Shampoo. "You're the one who used oil, electric heating devices, and that   
tempura mixed with gunpowder crap! It's your OWN fault that it blew up in your   
face when you tried to hit me with that stuff."   
  
Her face swathed in bandages, and still wearing her boy disguise, Ukyou screamed   
in rage at the three confronting her. "My fault?! LOOK AT WHAT YOU'VE DONE!" She   
ripped the bandages away in a sweeping gesture.   
  
"Pah! Is nothing. Hair grow back eventually in most places. Doctors in Japan   
know how fix scars."   
  
Nabiki was looking a little green. "It doesn't change that this was YOUR grudge   
fight, and YOUR quest for vengeance. YOUR tools and YOUR lack of judgement. If   
you hadn't attacked me, you wouldn't have been fighting me and Shampoo, and you   
wouldn't have had one of your own bombs explode in your face."   
  
"I'll get you, Nabiki Tendo! Sooner or later, you'll pay for this." Ukyou fled.   
Nabiki held up a hand to prevent Shampoo from running after the target.   
  
"You let him go?" Shampoo asked after a moment. "Why?"   
  
"It's a trap. The Black Rose and the Blue Thunder, Kodachi and Tatewaki Kuno are   
nearby. Smell the air. There's a faint hint of that perfume she wears. Just   
another ambush. Trust me on that, kiddo, those two try something like this on a   
weekly basis at least. Though with all three of them cooperating now, we'll have   
to be doubly careful."   
  
-----------------------------------------   
Chapter 2: more Akane eye-openers in "kid in a candy store."   
-----------------------------------------   
  
A bell on the door jangled, as a number of people moved into the cluttered shop.   
  
A black cat led the way, stopping at a rack of candy and meowing repeatedly.   
  
The next one in was a short haired girl of seventeen, who moved with a slight   
limp but otherwise had the typical grace of a skilled martial artist.   
  
A tether from her hand led to the belt of a confused looking boy who had a   
bandana and was carrying an umbrella.   
  
The final member of this group was a purple-haired Chinese girl who had the   
expression of a warrior who has just stepped behind enemy lines.   
  
A man in a bathrobe stepped out of a room in the back. "Ah, Akane Tendo. So nice   
to get a return customer. We don't get many, you know. And you brought your   
sister Nabiki, the eternally lost Ryouga Hibiki, and Shampoo of the Nichieju   
Chinese Amazons."   
  
"How do you..." Nabiki started then waved it off. "Let me guess, a spell on the   
door. Gives you identities and some basic dossier on those who ring the bell."   
  
The old man adjusted his glasses. "So nice to do business with someone who   
doesn't go through the usual spiel."   
  
"Then you already know we're here to see about getting cures for curses, the one   
that this cat picked up particularly."   
  
"She should have read the fine print on the back." The wizard shrugged. "We're   
not responsible for problems that occur as a result of use or misuse of our   
products."   
  
Shampoo looked up from where she was examining the candy rack. "All candies look   
normal, but little print in Cantonese on back. Almost need magnifying glass to   
read."   
  
The wizard shrugged again.   
  
Nabiki didn't waste time threatening a wizard capable of turning a girl into a   
cat then rewriting history so that the girl had never existed. "How much to cure   
the kitty cat?"   
  
"Difficult to say." The wizard adjusted his glasses again and looked directly   
into Nabiki's eyes. "Are you sure you want to do that, though? Turning her back   
puts everything back the way it was."   
  
"MEOW!"   
  
"What's different?" Ryouga blinked. Not much could have changed, he didn't feel   
different.   
  
"The transformation apparently erased from existence a little sister of mine,   
apparently named Akane Tendo. Just from the questions she's asked and reactions   
she's displayed I can make a few guesses. May I?" This last was directed to the   
wizard.   
  
When he nodded, Nabiki continued.   
  
"Akane is apparently the Heir to the Tendo School, not I. She is also apparently   
engaged to Ranma, doesn't like him very much, doesn't like Ryouga at all, and is   
a fair English student."   
  
The wizard cleared his throat. "Ryouga sleeps with Akane in his cursed form as   
her pet 'P-chan'. Ukyou is NOT scarred or insane and is seen as one of Ranma's   
fiancees. Nabiki never got into singing, drawing manga, OR the martial arts. I   
also don't have anything labelled 'antidote' but perhaps something else will   
approximate what you're looking for?"   
  
"I get to sleep indoors," Ryouga said with a wistful smile.   
  
"How could Ukyou be..." Nabiki's eyes narrowed as pieces of a puzzle clicked   
together. "He's a she? Hmmmm. Maybe another Jusenkyo victim. All righty then."   
  
"How much this candy?" Shampoo dumped a few assorted pieces on the counter.   
  
"SHAMPOO!" To say Nabiki was alarmed was quite understating it.   
  
Shampoo smirked and raised an eyebrow. "Candy called 'Kit Kat' change girl into   
kitty cat, yes? So what you think happen if Ranma in girl form eat 'Big Hunk'   
bar? Or if girl-cat have 'Nerds' or 'Girl Scout Cookies:Thin Mints' or maybe   
underdeveloped Amazon sister eat 'Whoppers'?"   
  
Nabiki glared for a moment. "I am quite happy with my natural amount of   
'talent', Shampoo."   
  
"That not what you say when looking at them dresses last week."   
  
Ryouga quietly added another "Big Hunk" bar and a "Three Musketeers" to the   
pile.   
  
"Waitaminute, Shampoo, if we cure Akane here, then you've paid for something,   
but we set up a paradox because if she's cured then we wouldn't have had a   
reason to come." Nabiki winced as all the implications and problems of mucking   
about with your own history started occurring to her, absent mindedly putting a   
set of coins on the counter to pay for the purchases. "The past timeline in   
which she, not I, is your warrior sister..."   
  
The sad look passed into Nabiki's eyes again as she considered what she was   
doing. Would she go back to being as she was before meeting Ranma? Would she   
still at least have her artwork and musical skills? Or would it be as in the   
Trial Of The Heart and she would be a mere shadow trapped in a two- dimensional   
life, forced to watch other people being happy but never able to grasp it   
herself? Having erected walls around herself to protect herself, but being cold   
and lonely and not that well protected after all.   
  
The cat in discussion would have corrected Nabiki if she could, but couldn't, so   
instead just settled for sniffing at the assorted candies. If all it took was   
one bite...   
  
This world was too crazy for her.   
  
-----------------------   
  
Akane staggered and put out a hand to steady himself against the furo wall.   
Some curious dislocation continued to make itself felt. Groaning, Akane got to   
the door and wondered where his... uh oh.   
  
His scream brought everyone else in the household.   
  
------------------------   
  
"A curse, Akira?" Sixteen year old Nabiki frowned and shook her head. "Even with   
all the craziness Ranma here brought in, that's a little difficult to swallow."   
  
"It's Akane." The sullen nineteen year old corrected.   
  
"That's a GIRL'S name." Nabiki's hand slapped down on the table. "YOU ARE A GUY!   
You are NOT Ranma and you can't change genders with water temperature."   
  
"Uhm, it's not a Jusenkyo curse." Akira/Akane looked down from his impressive   
height at his sisters, father, and a thoroughly bewildered looking pair of   
freeloading houseguests. "All I need to do is go back to the shop, and I can try   
something else. No problem."   
  
"AIREN!" The cry came from the backyard and the latter part was considerably   
increased in volume from the first part.   
  
Akane sat back, ready to get angry at Ranma for being glomped by Shampoo.   
  
Unfortunately...   
  
*GLOMP!* "Akira happy to see Shampoo?" The Amazon snuggled against her big brave   
husband with the chiseled musculature. A moment later her eyes widened and she   
glanced down. "Akira IS happy to see Shampoo! Shampoo was beginning to worry   
that maybe Akira no like girls. Shampoo HAPPY!" The Amazon Glomp resumed.   
  
Akira wasn't happy about her/his body going off and reacting to a suggestively   
snuggling Amazon without consulting him about it.   
  
"Oh dear," Akira's seventeen year old sister Kasumi said after a moment.   
"Shouldn't you two take it upstairs if you're going to try that?"   
  
"Ohohohohohohohoho!" Sinister laughter echoed through the house, causing Akira   
to wince and start pleading that what he was imagining wasn't really going to   
happen.   
  
A swirl of black rose petals, and a leotard clad Kodachi appeared. "Halt, you   
common tramp, and release my Akira-sama!"   
  
"C'mon, Nabiki, we don't wanna be late," said Ranma with a weary sigh. He had no   
idea why Akira was doing all this, but ever since the boy had insulted his girl   
form that first day as a "short and scrawny sniveling little brat" - they hadn't   
gotten along too well.   
  
"So true, my dear Ranma, so true. We'll just leave the lovebirds alone..."   
  
Nabiki smirked. Akira making fun of Nabiki's relationship with Ranma had stopped   
after he had accidently beaten Shampoo, and catching Kodachi that once had set   
big brother up for a whole slew of problems.   
  
"AAAAAA! Shampoo, let go of me! Kodachi, no, not the ribbon! Not in the house,   
you guys!" Akane was beginning to get the faintest hint of sympathy for what   
Ranma went through.   
  
-----------------------------------------   
  
A thoroughly bedraggled Akira Tendo thwacked his head into the doorframe of   
Spells R Us and wondered how things could be this bad.   
  
Being 6'4" and having a sculpted physique, he understood was part of the "Big   
Hunk" candy's transformation. This wasn't hard to understand. How to fix the   
current problem and not end up worse off, that was the difficult part.   
  
Trying to tell Shampoo to go back to China had ended when Akira had looked down   
into that happy, loving, face and realized that Shampoo had it even worse for   
Akira than she had for Ranma in the "real" timeline. Akane/Akira just hadn't had   
the heart.   
  
"So, Miss Tendo, what did you want to try this time?" It was the same wizard as   
from before.   
  
"The cure." Briefly, Akane entertained the notion of reaching across the   
counter, and beating the snot out of this miserable little man until such time   
as the wizard gave up the cure.   
  
"You wouldn't want to try anything rash, Miss Tendo. The last person who did   
ended up in a mess a great deal worse than your current difficulties."   
  
Akira frowned, realizing that the telepathy spell must still be going. THAT cut   
down an already slim list of options.   
  
"Aunt Jemima" pancake mix. Akane didn't think so, though maybe Kasumi could make   
some for Genma. Maybe with that big bottle of "Mrs Butterworth's" syrup to go   
with them.   
  
The old-fashioned soda machine in the corner had a number of cans. Some were   
western drinks: Mr Pibb, Dr Pepper, Sprite, Orange Crush. Others were Japanese:   
Pocari Sweat, Calpis, Kirin Gold. A few bottles of some gaijin health drink   
under the brand name of "Sobe" read "Power", "Wisdom", "Energy", or "Eros."   
This last word sounded vaguely familiar to Akira. Maybe it had something to do   
with a cure.   
  
The candy rack held some things that promised any number of things. There were   
two varieties of Girl Scout cookies, and one variety of prepackaged Brownies.   
Chunky, 3 Musketeers, Nerds, Everlasting Gobstoppers, Runts, Peppermint Patties,   
Mars bars, Reese's Pieces, Whoppers, Skor, Kit-kats, Big Hunks, Tiger's Milk,   
Lemon Warheads, Purple Passion Pop Rocks, Pixie Sticks, Koala Crunchies, Pocky   
sticks, Baby Ruth, Oh Henry, Sweet Tarts. Nothing that immediately screamed   
"CURE" to Akane's eye.   
  
There were costumes hanging from racks. Harem girl costumes, French maid   
costumes, bunny costumes, football player costumes, horse costumes, a blue   
Sailor Moon-style seifuku, even a "Lina Inverse" costume from "Slayers" and a   
costume similar to what was in Kasumi's anime magazine as a "Reiko Ayanami" plug   
suit.   
  
Computer programs were listed on a blackboard. VR versions of "Graduation" and   
"Tomb Raider." Dating simulators and FFVII. A game called "Life Sugoroku   
Special" and something else called "Monopoly."   
  
Another blackboard had a list of odd things like "inflatable date" and specials   
on catering.   
  
A shelf of videos turned up titles like "Catgirl Nukunuku", "Bambi", "Dumbo",   
"Debbie Does Dallas", "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", "Gremlins", "Cutey Honey Flash   
volumn I", an empty area marked "Ranma 1/2" (must be all checked out), and   
"Fuchigi Yuugi."   
  
Akira frowned, realizing that he had to do something. The way things were were   
getting entirely too comfortable. It was beginning to feel "right" to be this   
tall and muscular fellow with the gleaming smile. Time for Akane to return, but   
how?   
  
Akira looked around the shop, ignoring the shopkeeper's smirk. If Akira had   
figured it out, returning to normal was almost impossible. So the next decision   
would be: a) go for as close as possible to her original timeline and hope for   
the best. Becoming a girl would be fairly easy. Becoming the right one might be   
difficult. Maybe that "Debbie" tape was a travelogue, she could always get a   
flight back. Or maybe the "Sweet Tarts" or "Peppermint Patty"- those seemed   
safe. Then there was the other approach. b) screw the status quo, find one that   
was better off than the original. After hours in this whacked out reality, Akira   
realized that damn near everyone was happy. Kodachi and Shampoo were chasing   
after Akira, who apparently had found the attention a mix of embarrassing and   
kind of nice. Tatewaki was pursuing Nabiki and the Pigtailed girl. Kasumi was on   
the Furinkan Cooking Club and a martial arts bakeoff was scheduled for later   
this week against Kolkhoz High School's Midori Chiba. Ukyou and Nabiki were both   
interested in Ranma. Shampoo's death-hunt against female Ranma had been called   
off because of the relationship between Ranma and her 'airen' - though   
occasional hostilities still occurred. Tsubasa still showed up every blue moon   
to pursue Ukyou.   
  
Akira had found that instead of the craziness swirling around Ranma, that there   
were three centers to the madness in this odd world. Ranma, Akira, and Kasumi.   
Kasumi being pursued by two odd suitors herself. At least they didn't show up   
very often, as they were based OUT of Nerima.   
  
Akira was the Heir to the Tendo School. Kasumi was fairly skilled but preferred   
defensive and avoidance tactics as she seemed to have trouble with the idea of   
hurting other people no matter what other insanities were going on around her.   
Nabiki had never shown that much interest in the martial arts beyond as a form   
of exercise.   
  
Looking around in desperation, Akira felt more of Akane beginning to slip away   
and made a choice.   
  
-----------------------------------   
Chapter 3: A Fistful of Akanes   
-----------------------------------   
  
The wizard merely smirked, looking past the transformed former sixteen year old   
Japanese girl. A sign displayed where almost everyone would ignore it, read   
"Only Three Per Customer."   
  
Besides, after he was done here, he could go visit Juuban.   
  
=============================   
CHOOSE YOUR OWN ENDING! Yes, this was my attempt to give Akane equal play after   
"A Little Sense" did the same for Ranma. So choose the ending that you, the   
reader, like. (Original, Crispy, Extra Crispy, BBQ, or Honey-Roasted.)   
  
Option One: How this was originally planned.   
  
Akira/Akane thought deeply about this, noting only idly the growing impatience   
of the wizard behind the counter.   
  
In both the "World Without Akane" and his current reality, there were people who   
could be said to be reasonably happier. People like Nabiki who actually had   
outside interests beyond making money now. People like Ranma who were being   
challenged to grow up and act in a responsible manner as opposed to merely being   
confronted.   
  
Akira smiled, straightened, and nodded to the suddenly startled wizard. And left   
the shop without touching anything. Being a huge guy pursued by Kodachi and   
Shampoo was strange, but if her family was happier...   
  
---------------   
  
Akane shook her head and went into a coughing fit.   
  
"Well done, my daughter."   
  
"All right, sis!"   
  
Akane looked up, seeing Cologne and Nabiki. Things began to filter back into her   
mind. The petition to end Shampoo's pursuit of Ranma within the Laws of the   
Amazons. Akane petitioning Cologne to become an Amazon blood-sister of Shampoo.   
  
The three Trials or Ordeals that had to be overcome.   
  
Nabiki was present because this had come out of Akane paying her older sister to   
find a way to solve the problem with the Amazons.   
  
There had been the Trial Of War where Akane had to fight a conjured evil twin of   
herself, one that had every nasty impulse and habit. The towering rage of her   
opponent had given the other an advantage at first, but Akane had (with effort)   
kept her calm and had won at the end. Facing THAT had given her some   
uncomfortable insight into how she acted on occasion.   
  
The Trial Of Skill where Akane had learned the Breaking Point. Akane had a   
sneaking suspicion that Cologne had enjoyed swinging those boulders into her   
repeatedly. Two weeks, and she still hurt in a few places.   
  
The Trial Of The Heart.   
  
"Did I win? I couldn't remember. It was like it was last year right after Ukyou   
came..."   
  
Cologne smirked, oddly enough echoing Nabiki. "If you had remembered it was a   
Trial, then it wouldn't have been a true Trial. You would have chosen based on   
that knowledge instead of choosing truly. You sacrificed your own happiness and   
existence for the good of your family - your own tribe.   
  
"Welcome to the Amazon Tribe, daughter. Shampoo is not happy, but will come   
around. The Kiss of Marriage and the Kiss Of Death are hereby voided as there is   
now an Amazon with prior claim to Ranma Saotome." Cologne left then, to leave   
the two sisters to talk and to prepare the feast that marked the new induction   
of an Amazon. The Tribe would be stronger for having Akane in it. Though she   
would have preferred giving Shampoo what she wanted, Cologne would settle for   
this.   
  
Akane nodded absently noting the reference. As Cologne was Matriarch, all   
Amazons could be said to be her daughters. It was interesting to have a "mother"   
of sorts again. The thought of calling Cologne "grandmother" was kind of creepy   
though.   
  
"So, sis, how did it go? Cologne didn't give any details. What did you see, what   
did you experience?"   
  
Akane looked at her sister with new eyes, having seen things that remained with   
her now and wondering how much of what she had seen had been her own mind   
filling in the blanks. She looked at her arm and realized that a cut there had   
been put on Akira by Kodachi's ribbon. "Nabiki, do you remember when you tried   
doing your own manga back in Junior High? I think I need to talk to you..."   
  
*********************************   
  
ending # 2 by Nicholas Leifker:   
  
His hands hovered over the candy bars for a moment. It was tempting, the   
'Whoppers' especially so. After all, with those, he'd never have to worry about   
insults concerning her figure. 'Peppermint Patties' and the Girl Scout 'Thin   
Mints' were also appealing, as they tended to point toward more feminine   
results.   
  
Unfortunately, he couldn't go that route - not yet. If there was one thing he'd   
learned about magic from his time with Ranma, it was that it didn't want to let   
go. He would be changed, one way or another; it was just up to him as to how.   
  
The Akane Tendo who walked out of the store would be different from the Akane   
Tendo who first came in.   
  
So. How did he want to change? He crossed his arms; he knew there wasn't much   
time left. Already he was beginning to forget. He had to decide - immediately.   
The answer came on him in an instant. He smiled, grabbed the item, and placed it   
on the counter.   
  
-----------------------   
  
Akane Tendo hummed a soft tune as she walked down the street. She was back; no,   
she was better than back. She would have leapt up onto the fence, if she hadn't   
been wearing a skirt.   
  
For the first time in her life, she felt truly alive. Her life felt... expanded,   
like all she had seen before was merely the surface. Every little secret was   
hers for the taking; the world was a far more understanding place than she was   
used to. Her life, in short, was hers again and then some.   
  
The yowl of a furious cat got her attention, and she turned toward the source. A   
bunch of ragamuffin kids were torturing a cat; Shampoo by the look of it. She   
ran over to them, and pushed them away.   
  
"Beat it, kids! Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"   
  
The kids, as are wont to in the face of authority, ran. One gave her the   
raspberry; she ignored it. Shampoo was her major concern; she had to make sure   
she was all right.   
  
She frowned, though, when she got a look at Shampoo's face. There was a bandage   
covering her head, as though she had been hurt before. She peeled off the   
bandage - it was loose from her struggles - and gasped.   
  
Beneath was a shining crescent moon.   
  
Shampoo-neko blinked, then focused her eyes on her - a stare that seemed to pass   
through her. "Akane, we need talk. Now."   
  
*********************************   
  
ending suggested by Rick Robinson: (even though it went in a completely   
different direction than either of us intended. It is, however, a fairly typical   
Spells R Us style of ending.)   
  
The door jangled and in walked Ranma and his fiancee.   
  
"So you were serious, Akira?" Nabiki frowned slightly, trying to picture her   
older brother as a younger sister and failing.   
  
"You make fun of me turnin' into a girl all the time, and you are one." Ranma   
shook his head. "That's just too ....uhm."   
  
"I think you're looking for 'ironic'," supplied Nabiki after a moment. "Well,   
whether you're sister or brother, you're family."   
  
Akira shrugged after a moment. "Yeah, but this is somethin' I gotta do myself. I   
have to figure out a way that I'm as close to me as possible without screwing   
everything else up."   
  
"Do you do wishes?" Ranma asked the man across the counter.   
  
"Yes, but it wouldn't cure her of the transformation directly."   
  
"How about indirectly?" Ranma was familiar with the tactic. If the opponent had   
an iron defense, you found a way around it.   
  
Everyone blinked at Ranma coming up with an idea. Nabiki recovered slightly   
faster, reasoning correctly that hanging around with her, he had been challenged   
to show more intelligence.   
  
"Well, as long as it didn't involve a direct paradox, like never having visited   
the store." The wizard allowed, getting fascinated despite himself. He placed an   
object like a solid soap bubble out on the counter. "Twenty thousand yen."   
  
Ranma pulled out his recent winnings and laid them on the counter. He restrained   
himself from immediately wishing that he was cured of his curse. It was   
difficult, though, very difficult.   
  
"So how should I word this to make it indirectly change me back?"   
  
"How about if ya wish that the cure for yer condition was there in yer hand.   
That way the wish is actin' on the cure and not on yer curse."   
  
There was a brief moment after which everyone (except Ranma) slowly picked   
themselves up from their mass face fault. Nabiki smiled proudly at her iinazuke   
and said in a low voice that "he CAN be taught."   
  
The wizard shook his head and just reminded himself that it was the unexpected   
that kept him in this business.   
  
Ranma managed to look slightly insulted at Nabiki's observation.   
  
Holding the soap bubble in his hands, Akira opened his mouth and blurted out  
the request. "I wish that everything was back to normal."   
  
The wizard began to laugh, hearing defeat being snatched from the jaws of   
victory.   
  
----------------  
  
Akane stretched as she got off the couch, time to help mother fix breakfast. It   
was good that things had gotten back to normal.   
  
The sounds of Kasumi getting ready for a day at the office reached Akane, and   
that was Nabiki almost sleepwalking with her toothbrush sticking out of her   
mouth.   
  
Her father was, of course, off to work already. Like all normal Japanese   
fathers, he worked from before dawn until long after sundown.   
  
That weirdness that her father had tried to inflict on the family had almost   
been forgotten. A sad expression flickered over Akane's face at the memory. An   
arranged marriage to some weird old buddy's son had been decidedly strange.   
  
Still, Akane's mother had put a stop to THAT soon enough. Then made some   
discrete inquiries and found the boy's mother through the simple exercise of   
finding out the woman's name and then calling information.   
  
Such a weird family. On finding out the boy was cursed to turn into a girl, the   
mother had demanded that father and son commit seppuku. How terribly old   
fashioned.   
  
It had taken weeks to get the bloodstains out of the dojo.   
  
But now everything was back to normal, and Akane could try to meet Tate- chan   
later. He didn't seem to notice anyone as normal and boring as her, but Akane   
had her hopes.   
  
***********************   
  
ending #4 suggested by Jared Ornstead:   
  
Akira picked up the "Debbie Does Dallas" videotape and considered it. Would this   
turn him into a gaijin? Akira put the video back on the shelf, as remaining a   
member of his family was an important consideration.   
  
"Gojira" was likewise passed over, though this version of the familiar story   
seemed to look rather more like an oversized iguana. "Alien" was probably about   
gaijin, and was turned down for the same reason as the "Dallas" video. "Better   
off dead" didn't sound appealing at all.   
  
Finally he saw it. One of his favorite movies. A Disney version of the old   
story.   
  
Akira put his hand on the copy of "Beauty & The Beast" and cast another glance   
around the store. Other than the "princess" costume, nothing else really seemed   
to pull at him.   
  
Maybe he could get Ranma to watch it with him. That sounded like a winner.   
  
-----   
  
The wizard checked around eight that evening and smiled at the results.   
Naturally, it had gone quite well by his own standards, if not by any of the   
principals in this little play.   
  
Ranma, of course, had become the Beauty. A demure and well built young woman.   
Akira, of course, was the Beast.   
  
He just loved a twisted ending.   
  
**********************************   
  
ending #5: suggested by Connie Decker   
  
Akira wondered what to do and how to do it. Being a nineteen year old boy was   
rather unnerving for a formerly sixteen year old girl named Akane.   
  
Akira's gaze alighted on the Girl Scout cookies. This might work. There were   
actually three kinds here. "Thin Mints" sounded good, after all he wouldn't have   
to watch his weight. The second kind contained coconut, which he had gotten   
rather sick of after the Principal had donated nearly a ton of the stuff to the   
school cafeteria. They were putting it in almost everything.   
  
Akira was unfamiliar with the name of this last kind of cookie. Opening the box,   
he tried one. After all it wouldn't take effect until after it was paid for,   
right?   
  
------------------------   
  
Alysse steadied herself against the kitchen cupboard and realized that the   
Spells R Us wizard must have done something, but what?   
  
Losing herself in the familiar task of preparing lunches, Alysse (short for   
Alyssande) realized that she had taken a nibble out of a Girl Scout cookie   
called a "Scandinavian" but that this probably hadn't had much of an effect.   
She examined herself, looking for anything that might have changed. No, she was   
still eleven years old, and of Scandinavian descent. She was still the adopted   
daughter of Soun Tendo, adopted due to an old debt of honor that Soun had owed   
her parents.   
  
Alysse caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror, of her long blonde hair and   
piercing blue eyes. Things that marked her as being an outsider here in Japan,   
though she was sufficiently charismatic that she had some popularity anyway.   
She had become accepted by her new family, though, and that was of primary   
importance.   
  
Alysse could see Ranma and big sister Nabiki beating the stuffings out of   
Ranma's father. Kasumi was studying, now in her second year of college. Alysse   
was glad that she had been able to take over Kasumi's duties so that the older   
girl could go ahead and pursue her dreams.   
  
Yes, Alysse decided with a nod, she must have gotten it right.   
  
********  
  
possible ending #6 by   
SKJAM! the Baby Ruth ending...  
  
"Oh, Akane-chan, you want to look at the   
pictures?"   
  
"Gah! Pit-chers!" Akane hated having a limited vocabulary. It was nearly as bad   
as being a cat.   
  
Kasumi picked up her baby sister, put her on her lap and opened the photo album.   
  
The first one was of Kasumi, Nabiki and...Mother? But this was obviously taken   
when the girls were teens! "Mama?"   
  
"That's right, dear. Mama. This was a couple of years ago, before you were   
born."   
  
"Mama...way-ah?"   
  
Kasumi looked sad. "She's in Heaven now, Akane. She passed away shortly after   
you were born. thank goodness I was old enough to quit school so I could look   
after you."   
  
Akane felt bad. At least Kasumi had a little freedom in the real world. Here,   
she was stuck taking care of a baby all the time.   
  
The next page had some pictures of Ranma. "Wan-ma!"   
  
"Very good, Akane-chan! He's going to marry Nabiki some day, you know."   
  
Akane frowned.   
  
"Now, now, someday when you grow up, I'm sure you'll have a nice husband."   
  
There was a strikingly embarrassing photo next.   
  
"Oh, this is from the time Shampoo used that amnesia trick on Ranma, and he   
thought he really was a girl, and your mommy! You were so angry when you found   
out he didn't have any milk after all. But Nabiki made a mint off selling copies   
of this picture. *ahem* Not that I approve, of course..."  
  
**********************   
  
ending #7 also by SKJAM! (alternate seifuku ending) the half moon ending  
  
Akane pulled out her, or rather, Usagi's diary, and started writing.   
"Pros: I'm human, female and engaged to Ranma. Boy, feels funny putting that in   
the `pro' category. I have a bunch of new friends, and magical powers, and I'm a   
princess!   
  
"Cons: My name is now Usagi, I have a reputation as a airheaded crybaby, my   
grades are in the toilet, and with constant monster attacks there's not much   
chance I'll be bringing them up any time soon. Plus, half of my new friends are   
after Ranma too, and none of my old rivals went away! And I'm lousy at martial   
arts unless I'm in Senshi mode. Bummer. Still can't cook, and clumsy and more   
flat-chested than ever. And when I slapped that Rei girl back, I thought she   
would burst into tears right there! Wish I'd seen more than five episodes of   
Sailor Moon before...."   
  
**************************   
  
ending #8, suggested by a visit to a local store   
  
"Sobe beverages, 'Zen Blend'." Akane looked at the label on the tea and wondered   
about the contents briefly. She was really good at English, but some of the   
writing here looked to be a _completely_ different language.   
  
What the heck was a 'schizandra' anyway? The yin/yang symbol with the little   
lizards was kind of cute, but Akane set the bottle back anyway.   
  
There was a sudden impulse to buy the bottle of 'Wisdom' then forcefeed it to   
Ranma, but Akane restrained herself. She paused for a moment, wondering if there   
was a way to do it so that THIS Ranma stayed around. You could see him struggle   
to keep from speaking until he'd thought about it. THAT trait was one she'd   
often wished the real Ranma had.   
  
Turning, Akane's eyes caught something she had missed before. Now THIS was   
perfect. Nestled between a box marked 'Mandarin Orange Spice' tea and something   
called 'Passion Spice instant ramen' it had obviously been hidden.   
  
And it was so simple that nothing could possibly go wrong with it, too. Her hand   
passed over the box of 'Swiss Miss cocoa mix' as she lifted the target box and   
remembered the event depicted on the box. Ranma had been _such_ a jerk, but   
there _had_ been a payback.   
  
"Ah, 'Ranma and Juliet', how did that get left out?" The shopkeeper looked   
puzzled briefly. "Must be fate."  
  
-------------------   
  
"ANOTHER fiancee, Ranma?"   
  
Nabiki glared at her iinazuke, even knowing that he hadn't known about this   
himself.   
  
"What did you sell me for this time, old man?" Ranma rubbed his forehead and   
tried to imagine what life would have been like if his father knew how to   
practice self-restraint.   
  
"It was a question of honor. I was swimming the Sea of Japan when a storm came   
up. I was exhausted and would have drowned but for a passing yacht owned by a   
kind young man."   
  
"So you promised him your firstborn son or something like that?" Nabiki's cold   
glare swept over Genma.   
  
"Uhm, more or less."   
  
The newly arrived girl, Juliette Forbes, blew a bubble briefly before winking at   
the crowd.   
  
*********   
  
ending #9 is an alternate for #3, very IC for the Wizard.  
  
The wizard shook his head and just reminded himself that it was the   
unexpected that kept him in this business.   
  
Ranma managed to look slightly insulted at Nabiki's observation, not that he   
wouldn't admit that he wasn't as mentally nimble as his iinazuke. Yet.   
  
Holding the soap bubble in his hands, Akira opened his mouth and considered.   
Biting back the temptation to just blurt something out, Akira tried to consider   
this as carefully as THIS Ranma would.   
  
"What's wrong, Akira?" Nabiki asked after a moment of silence.   
  
"A cure for what is the question." Akira shook his head at their confusion. "No,   
I still remember being Akane. The thing is, how do I phrase this so that it is   
the _right_ cure? You've seen how many cures Ranma's gone after that have turned   
out poorly."   
  
"Good point," said Ranma and Nabiki simultaneously. The two then stared at each   
other for a moment before grinning.   
  
Akira just shuddered at the sight. "ANYWAY. I wish that the cure to return me to   
being Akane Tendo, as close as possible to the way I was when I first entered   
this store, but without erasing the insights I've gained since then, were here   
in my hand."   
  
The bubble burst, leaving a videotape in her hands. Akira stared briefly at it.   
"What? 'An Akane To Remember'?"  
  
-----------------------   
  
Akane got up and shut the tape off, a thoughtful expression on her face. Opening the   
door, she found Ranma and Nabiki waiting impatiently.   
  
"Well? Did it work?" Ranma looked a little anxious.   
  
"It's only about halfway through. I wanted to think about what I've seen some   
more." Akane blinked.   
  
"Did it..." Ranma and Nabiki threw a panicked and sorrowful glance at each   
other, each reaching a hand out for the other as they faded from view.   
  
Akane looked at the spot they had been standing on for a moment, a miniscule   
frown marking her face. A quick search revealed Nabiki sneaking pictures of an   
unconscious and drenched Ranma in the backyard.   
  
Kasumi was in the kitchen, Soun and Genma were playing shogi. A quick peek under   
the house revealed Sasuke. She waved at the ninja, who essayed a wave back.   
  
An hour later, Akane sat back on her bed.   
  
From what she had found, everything was back to normal. Just as it had been prior  
to her entering that shop for the first time. Except for her memories of how things  
*could* have been in those other lives she'd briefly walked through.  
  
Kasumi was oblivious to anything outside her home and most of what was in it.  
There was her usual polite smile but none of the humor glimpsed in the time where  
she had been Akira.  
  
Nabiki was only concerned with making a buck through the least amount of effort.  
A two dimensional mercenary, a pale shadow of the girl she'd been in both the Akira  
and in that first universe. The vibrant Tendo Heir and the manga artist were nowhere  
visible in what her sister had again been reduced to.  
  
Her father and Mr. Saotome were mainly concerned with playing shogi and   
"getting their stubborn children together". Though the two had been among the   
least changed, the pride openly visible in her Father's face when he'd looked upon  
Akira was not even visible as a trace.  
  
Ukyou and Shampoo had been, as they had been prior to this little adventure,  
still competing with themselves and with Akane for Ranma. As before, Ukyou  
was merely obsessive: about okonomiyaki, about Ranma. Shampoo was still  
bound to pursue Ranma by both her tribal law and the dicates of her own  
heart.  
  
Kodachi and Tatewaki Kuno hadn't been changed very much. She hadn't seen  
Tatewaki during this mess, but Kodachi had been genuinely concerned when her  
ribbon had cut Akira's arm. A kinder gentler Kodachi, if only by a small amount,  
had vanished when everything switched back.  
  
Yes, everything was just the way it was supposed to be.   
  
Akane looked at the tape still sitting in her VCR and asked herself why she   
didn't feel satisfied.   
  
-----------  
  
The Wizard chuckled over this outcome.   
  
Oh yes, Akane remembered. She remembered it all.  
  
She would remember a Kasumi who wasn't withdrawn into herself. A Nabiki  
who was concerned with more than making a quick yen. She would remember  
a Ranma who had been challenged instead of confronted, back when such   
actions would have mattered.  
  
She would remember times when everything did not revolve around one   
Akane Tendo and when people she knew and cared about were happier.  
  
And she wouldn't be able to do a damn thing about it. Locked in her  
own private nightmare, unable to do anything to make things change  
to one of those happier alternatives. Not without self-sacrifice on  
HER part, and just that she'd deliberately returned things to the  
old status quo indicated this was unlikely.  
  
Locked in a nightmare of guilt and frustration, one of her own  
making.  
  
The Wizard's chuckle increased to a full blown laugh.   
  
end, roll credits.   
  
thanks for reading   
  
gregg   



End file.
